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Tuesday, July 26, 2011

A Few Questions for Tawna Fenske

Working Stiffs welcomes guest blogger, Tawna Fenske. If you don't read her blog, Don't Pet Me, I'm Writing, you're missing out. Disclaimer: Don't read it with food or drink in your mouth, or you WILL have to replace your keyboard. And be forewarned--it's a little naughty. She also blogs on The Debutante Ball. Tawna is the author of the romantic comedy, MAKING WAVES, which will be released on August 2nd.

Working Stiffs had a few questions for Tawna and she was kind enough to answer them.

1. If you were stranded on a desert island, which hero
from which book would you want for company?

I’m trying to be practical and think about which guy might
have excellent raft-building skills or the ability to cook a gourmet meal from
palm fronds. Alas, I’m a romantic comedy author at heart, so I can’t think of
anything beyond who’d crack me up and look great strutting around the island
with his shirt off. I’m going with Phin Tucker, the hero from “Welcome to
Temptation,” one of my favorite romantic comedy novels by Jennifer Crusie.

2. Boxers or briefs? Not for you, of course. What do you
prefer your heroes to wear?

I seem to have my male characters outfitted in boxer briefs
an awful lot, and I’ll admit a personal preference for those. I like the way they
look on a guy, and I especially like the way they look on my bedroom floor.

3. If you could be any character who would you be?

Can I live vicariously through one of my own characters? I’d
kind of like to be Juli, the heroine from my debut novel, Making Waves.
She’s cute and quirky and more than a little strange, though you learn the
reason for the strangeness about a third of the way through the book. She also
gets to knock boots with Alex, who I happen to know is funny and smart and
fantastic in bed because…um, well, I wrote him that way.

4. Since Working Stiffs is mostly a crime writing blog, who would you most
like to kill off in a book? You can change the name to protect the
not-so-innocent.

Once upon a time, I wrote women’s action/adventure/romance
novels for a special line at Harlequin called “Bombshell.” None of my
books actually hit shelves since the line was canceled one month before my
scheduled debut, though I’m not building up to a confession that I want to kill
an editor over that debacle.

I want to kill my good friend, Larie Borden.

With each of the three books I wrote for Bombshell line, I
named a character after Larie. Then I killed her.

It wasn’t her, exactly…she was a little old Argentine
man named “Lorenzo Bordel” in one book, and an Iditarod competitor named “Lori
Boardman” in another. I always delighted in finding new ways to murder Larie,
and she seemed to enjoy being killed.

Though I adore romantic comedy and I know that’s what I’m
meant to write, I really miss killing my friend for sport. I think she misses
it, too.

Thanks for visiting us today, Tawna. Now everyone--get out there and order MAKING WAVES!

4 comments:

Welcome to the Stiffs, Tawna. I really enjoy reading Don't Pet Me, I'm Writing, although I'm mostly a lurker. I rarely read romance, but I'm looking forward to Making Waves.

If anyone is wondering if the whole social network thing works, I think this is some proof that it does. If it weren't for her blog and Twitter, I'd never think to pick up Tawna's book. The fact that I love her blog and her tweets makes me sure I'll love her book.

Hi, Tawna. Welcome to Working Stiffs. I'm another lurker at Don't Pet Me, I'm Writing and I so agree with the disclaimer at the beginning of this blog about not reading it while eating or drinking. I, too, look forward to Making Waves.

I find it curious that you killed your friend off in your earlier books. I generally kill off someone who is annoying the hell out of me in one way or another. I find it therapeutic.

Thanks for visiting, Tawna! I'm not even a lurker over on Don't Pet Me, I'm Writing... but I have landed there a few times, and enjoyed it. And I'm looking forward to Making Waves, having read the excerpt and heard a lot of good things.

Phin's OK. If I had to pick a Crusie hero for the deserted island, I think I'd go with Davy Dempsey. He seems like the kind of guy who'd get things done. And besides, I wouldn't be taking him away from his kid.

Joyce, I definitely agree about the value of social media. Most people would never know my name if it weren't for that!

Annette, I think killing my friend is similar to mystery author Bill Cameron's philosophy that killing someone in a certain spot in one of his books is a good indication that's a place he really likes. Twisted logic, but I suppose all authors are a little twisted!

Jenna, mmmm, I love Davy, too! And Nick from "Crazy for You." And the young pup doctor from "Anyone But You" (I always forget his name).